What happens when you lose your patience, regret the way you responded, and immediately make yourself the entire problem? It’s easy to replay the worst few seconds, criticize yourself, apologize, and decide you simply need to do better next time without ever asking what had been building long before the words came out. In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel opens an honest conversation about what frustration can reveal when you’ve become the capable, dependable woman everyone expects to handle it. She explores the difference between taking responsibility for your response and turning against yourself, especially when your time, energy, attention, and emotional capacity have been treated as though they’re always available. This isn’t about excusing the reaction or blaming everyone around you. It’s about being willing to look at the whole picture so you can understand what got you there, what you haven’t communicated, and whether the role you’ve been playing still fits the woman you’re becoming. This conversation will help you see: Why one response doesn’t erase the growth God has already done in you How being capable can slowly become an expectation that you’ll always be available What happens when people mistake your presence for access to your time and energy Why resentment often builds when you say yes before checking whether you actually have the capacity or desire How fear of disappointing people can keep you repeating patterns that are wearing you down Why being needed isn’t always the same as being valued What your body may be telling you before you’ve admitted that something isn’t working How becoming more patient may also require becoming more honest Taking responsibility for how you responded doesn’t mean you have to ignore what the response may be revealing. You can care about someone else’s needs, own your part, and still recognize when clearer communication, stronger boundaries, or a different way of handling something is necessary. Ready to Go Deeper? The Becoming Identity Planner & Journal gives you space to step back and look honestly at what’s happening across your responsibilities, relationships, body, joy, worth, boundaries, and decisions. This isn’t about adding more tasks to an already overloaded life. It’s about seeing the patterns beneath the pressure, understanding what your reactions may be connected to, and deciding what the woman you’re becoming needs to do differently, one honest page and one real decision at a time. Begin with The Becoming Identity Planner & Journal Connect with Rachel Brooks: Follow Rachel on Instagram: @iamrachelbrooks Join the weekly written conversation inside Create Your Own Story Explore Rachel’s books, programs, and resources at iamrachelbrooks.com Listen, subscribe, and share this episode with the woman who may be blaming herself for the reaction without understanding what’s been building underneath it. Scripture referenced: James 1:19
What do you reach for when you do not know what to do? When life feels uncertain, something is no longer working, and you cannot see what comes next, it is natural to start searching for an answer. A plan. A process. A person who has already crossed the bridge and can hand you the exact map she followed. But what happens when someone else’s blueprint was never created for you? In this episode of The Confident Woman, Rachel Brooks opens an honest conversation about the ways uncertainty can make us vulnerable to outside promises, world-created identities, and systems that appear to offer certainty. She shares the shadow side of always being the woman who makes things happen, why self-reliance can look like confidence and responsibility, and what begins to happen when we trust someone else’s strategy more than our own discernment and God’s direction. Because when the process does not work, we rarely question the process first. We question ourselves. This conversation explores: Why uncertainty sends us searching for external answers The shadow side of being an active doer and “making things happen” How the backwards do, have, be script keeps women performing The difference between receiving support and surrendering your discernment Why tools, plans, and strategies can help us but cannot become our source How following the wrong blueprint slowly erodes identity, confidence, and self-trust What it means to return to who you are and whose you are The world will continue packaging a more polished, productive, successful, and acceptable version of you and telling you that she is waiting on the other side of one more thing. But God is not asking you to purchase another identity. He is calling you back into relationship with Him so you can become more of who He already created you to be. Ready to Go Deeper? Becoming The Confident Woman is a private eight-week audio journey with a companion workbook created to help you examine the identities, beliefs, expectations, and patterns that have been directing your life. This is not another blueprint asking you to perform a different version of yourself. It is a guided space to get quiet, tell yourself the truth, reconnect with who you are and whose you are, and begin making your next decisions from identity rather than pressure. Begin Becoming The Confident Woman Continue the Conversation: Follow Rachel at @iamrachelbrooks and join Create Your Own Story on Substack for deeper personal essays, honest conversations, and the stories behind the work. Listen, subscribe, and share this episode with the woman who may be questioning herself because someone else’s blueprint did not fit her life. Scripture referenced: Matthew 14:22–33 and Philippians 4:13
What if the version of yourself you keep trying to get back to is the same version that no longer belongs in the life God is leading you into? In this week’s solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks explores the identity crisis that can happen when you are no longer fully who you were, but you do not completely recognize who you are becoming yet. This conversation invites you to look honestly at what you are trying to reclaim. Some parts of you may be rooted in faith, freedom, creativity, joy, and truth. Other parts may have been built through fear, pressure, control, survival, and the need to prove that you could handle everything. Becoming does not require you to reject your entire past. It asks you to discern what God may be restoring and transforming within. What You’ll Hear Why the familiar version of yourself can feel safer than the woman you are becoming How fear can disguise itself as responsibility, consistency, loyalty, or discipline Why becoming requires honesty before it gives you clarity How external blueprints and quick fixes can pull you away from who God created you to be The difference between reclaiming a true part of yourself and resurrecting a pattern that already exhausted you Why an identity that helped you survive one season may not be able to lead you into the next How to stop asking what the old version of you would do and begin listening to what the woman you are becoming needs Why becoming can begin with one honest decision instead of a complete plan for your future Scripture for the Soul “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.” — Philippians 3:13–14 Paul’s words are permission to keep moving forward without continuing to obey identities, patterns, and expectations you have already outgrown. Key Quotes “The past can begin to look like safety and security, but it is not your present.” “You do not have to know exactly who you are becoming before releasing who you are no longer willing to be.” “Not every version of yourself is meant to come with you.” “What part of myself is God bringing back to life, and what part of me has already completed its purpose?” Your Next Step The Becoming… Identity Planner & Journal helps you name the season you are actually in, recognize what you are still carrying, and explore where God may be calling you across your identity, faith, calling, work, body, relationships, joy, and money. Start with The Becoming… Identity Planner & Journal Still unsure where you are in your becoming journey? Start with the free Becoming Quiz Connect with Rachel Brooks Website: iamrachelbrooks.com Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks Newsletter: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe Substack: iamrachelbrooks.com/substack
What do you do when you are no longer who you were, but you are not fully living as who you are becoming yet? In this week's solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks explores the uncomfortable in-between of becoming—the waiting, the growing pains, and the seasons that feel more like falling apart than moving forward. So often we ask God to remove the hard season, fix the problem, or show us the way out, but what if He is doing something even deeper? What if, instead of removing the struggle, He is increasing your capacity to carry what comes next? What if the transformation you've been praying for is already happening, even if you cannot see it yet? This conversation is an invitation to slow down, stop measuring your progress by how quickly your circumstances change, and begin recognizing the quieter work God may be doing within you. What You'll Hear Why becoming often feels like falling apart while it's happening Why we ask God to remove hard seasons instead of increasing our capacity to endure them How patience may be growing within you before your circumstances ever change Why transformation is often impossible to recognize from the inside The difference between relying on your own strength and relying on Christ Why the discomfort you're feeling may not mean you're off track Scripture for the Soul "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." — Philippians 4:13 Paul wasn't talking about achieving more, but bout remaining faithful whether life felt abundant or painfully difficult. The strength he describes isn't self-reliance. It's Christ sustaining us when our own strength has reached its limit. "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." — Matthew 19:26 Some seasons remind us that we were never meant to carry the weight of transformation alone. Human effort eventually reaches its limit. God's presence never does. Key Quotes "Most of us keep asking God to get us out of the hard season without asking Him to increase our capacity to live through it." "The in-between is not wasted time. It's where the becoming actually happens." "Sometimes the greatest transformation isn't that our circumstances change. It's that we begin responding to them differently." Your Next Step Becoming The Confident Woman is an eight-week private audio journey with a companion workbook created to help you rebuild your confidence, identity, and faith from the inside out, so you can stop returning to the same patterns every time life feels uncertain. Learn more Still trying to understand where you are in your becoming journey? Start with the free Becoming Quiz Connect with Rachel Brooks: Website: https://iamrachelbrooks.com Podcast: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast Instagram: https://instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks Newsletter: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe
What if the thing you’ve been holding onto isn't proof that you’re being responsible, but the very thing God is asking you to release? In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks shares the honest story behind the question that would not leave her alone: what is this costing me? After surviving one of the hardest seasons of her life, Rachel found herself looking at the weight she had been carrying, the pressure she kept trying to hold together, and the moment she realized God may have been loosening her grip before something was removed from her hands. This conversation isn't about walking away because something feels hard. It's about the deeper identity work of knowing when something was yours for a season, but somewhere along the way, you started confusing the assignment with alignment, and your peace, clarity, and sense of self began paying the price. Something can help you survive a season and still not be yours to keep carrying. And when God ends the assignment, you do not have to make it mean something about your worth. What You’ll Hear: How to ask, “What is this costing me?” when you’ve been afraid to let go Why something can serve a purpose and still not be where you are meant to stay The difference between abandoning responsibility and recognizing when an assignment is complete How proving, performing, carrying, producing, and fixing can make an ending feel like a verdict Why relief can sometimes tell you what your mind is still trying to argue with When the role changes, the assignment ends, and the thing you were holding onto no longer holds you Scripture for the Soul: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” — Proverbs 3:5 “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” — Proverbs 16:9 Key Quotes: “What is this costing me?” “We can keep showing up, keep carrying the weight, and keep making ourselves fit into places and roles and seasons that technically work, but don’t fully fit anymore.” “Sometimes the thing that’s costing you peace is also giving you something you think you need.” “Something can serve a purpose and still be over and done.” “When you’ve spent so much of your life proving your worth through what you can do, what you can carry, what you can handle, what you can produce, what you can fix, an ending doesn’t always feel like an ending. It feels like a final verdict.” Your Next Step: If you are in that in-between place where something is ending, shifting, or no longer fits, start here: Take the Becoming Quiz If you're ready to reclaim your power and stop performing for your worth, start with The Becoming… Identity Planner & Journal Connect with Rachel Brooks: Website: iamrachelbrooks.com Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast Subscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe
What if the season that feels like starting over is actually the moment you finally start from somewhere true? Most women have been here at least once: standing at the edge of a new season with the uncomfortable awareness that the life they've been building no longer fits who they're becoming. It's not failure, and it's not a sign they got it wrong. It's one of the clearest invitations God gives — to stop forcing what no longer fits and start telling the truth about what does. In this solo episode, Rachel Brooks opens up an honest conversation about what it actually means to begin again. Not the version that requires burning everything down, but the more honest, more grounded kind, where you look at your life, your values, your energy, and your sense of self, and ask what actually belongs in the next chapter. Rachel shares her own experience of standing between the life she built and the one she's still defining, what she learned writing Chasing Perfection, and why the in-between space, as uncomfortable as it feels, is often exactly where clarity begins. She walks through the four pillars she returns to when everything feels unsettled, the questions worth asking when you're ready to stop carrying what belongs to an older version of yourself, and why small, consistent steps matter more than any complete overhaul when you're rebuilding self-trust. This episode is for the woman who is tired of forcing old dreams into a new season and is ready to give herself permission to build a life that's true rather than impressive. What You'll Hear: How to start over without losing the wisdom, experience, and foundation you've already built How to tell the difference between something that's genuinely challenging and something that's actually draining you The four pillars Rachel returns to when life feels unsettled, and why they apply across every area of your life What to do when clarity feels out of reach and the next step is all you have The honest questions worth sitting with when you're ready to stop defending a life that no longer fits How faith plays into starting over when God isn't giving you the full map, just the next step Why small, consistent decisions rebuild self-trust faster than any complete overhaul ever will Scripture for the Soul: "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." — Proverbs 16:9 Key Quotes: "Starting over becomes less about throwing everything away and more about telling the truth." "What if this is actually wisdom we're starting from?" "Starting over isn't about rejecting who you are. It's about honoring what brought you here while deciding what no longer needs to come with you." "The goal isn't to become a completely different person overnight. The goal is to become more honest, more present, aligned, and rooted in what truly matters most." "Maybe beginning again isn't proof that you failed. Maybe it's proof that you're still willing, still open, and still listening." Your Next Step: If you've been sitting in that gap between the life you built and the one you're still defining, this is where the real work begins. Becoming The Confident Woman Connect with Rachel Brooks: Website: iamrachelbrooks.com Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast Subscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe
What if the season that feels like it’s breaking you is actually the one God is using to rebuild you? In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks sits down with Christine Marie, known as the Cortisol Coach. Christine is a Christian entrepreneur, certified biblical mindset coach, bestselling author, podcast host, and leader of a community of more than 420,000 women. After years of fostering 77 children, adopting two, and caring for family members through serious illness, Christine’s body began showing the effects of chronic stress through fibromyalgia, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, and burnout. Together, Rachel and Christine explore the connection between stress, grief, caregiving, faith, and healing. They discuss what happens when you spend years caring for everyone else without stopping to consider what you’re carrying, what it’s costing you, and what God may be asking you to release. Rachel also shares her own experiences with loss, identity shifts, and forgiveness during difficult seasons. This conversation is for the woman who feels overwhelmed, exhausted, and ready to discover a healthier way forward. What You’ll Hear: How caregiving impacted Christine’s health and healing journey Why a performance mindset can keep you stuck in burnout The connection between cortisol, stress, and emotional burdens Why grief includes more than death and can involve seasons, roles, and identities The challenge of being a caregiver who never pauses to grieve How to simplify life and listen for God’s direction Scripture for the Soul: “Jesus wept.” — John 11:35 Key Quotes: “Grief isn’t just something traumatic like losing a loved one. Grief is the constant evolution and letting go of what once was so that you can make room to embrace what is still to come.” — Rachel Brooks “For us to grow, we gotta let go.” — Christine Marie “The more is never found externally. The more is gained through our perseverance, our suffering, our losses.” — Christine Marie “Everything we do, there’s a cost. Is it worth it?” — Christine Marie “Who we are and whose we are is not found in what we do, but in who we be.” — Rachel Brooks Your Next Step: Ready to do the deeper work? → I Am… Becoming — rebuild your identity from the inside out: iamrachelbrooks.com/iam-becoming Support your body's stress response, energy, and focus as you do it: → Beneve: iamrachelbrooks.com/beneve Connect with Christine Marie: Instagram: @cortisol_coach Podcast: Cortisol Coach — available on all podcast platforms Podcast: What to Expect While Fostering and Adopting Connect with Rachel Brooks: Website: iamrachelbrooks.com Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast Subscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe
What if the very thing you keep waiting to receive from someone else is the thing you have not yet learned how to give yourself? In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks opens up a deeply honest conversation about giving, receiving, self-trust, self-respect, love, and the mirror that reveals what we are truly longing for. She speaks to the woman who has been looking for clarity, validation, peace, love, confidence, or direction, only to realize the deeper question may not be, “Why am I not receiving this?” but, “Where have I stopped giving this to myself?” Rachel unpacks why so many of us struggle to fully receive what we say we want, especially when we have not yet built the inner foundation to recognize it, hold it, or believe we are worthy of it. Through personal reflection and Matthew 22:39, she invites you to look at the second half of the command to love your neighbor as yourself and ask what your relationship with yourself is teaching every other relationship in your life. This episode is not about blaming yourself or pretending you do not need love, support, connection, or community. It is about telling the truth about where you may be withholding trust, respect, grace, forgiveness, or love from yourself while searching for it everywhere else. It is about coming back to the mirror, noticing what keeps coming up, and allowing God to reveal what needs your attention now. What You’ll Hear: Why it can be hard to receive what you have not learned to give yourself How self-respect, self-trust, and self-love shape the way you show up in every relationship Why confidence is not where the journey starts, but the result of what you practice How broken promises to yourself quietly weaken self-trust and confidence over time What Matthew 22:39 reveals about loving others from a place of stewardship, not self-abandonment Why the thing you are craving may be pointing you toward the deeper work God is inviting you into A reflection to help you ask where you may be withholding the very thing you keep waiting to receive Scripture for the Soul: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” — Matthew 22:39 Key Quotes: “Sometimes the thing that we keep looking for outside of ourselves is the very thing we haven’t learned yet to give ourselves.” “Confidence isn’t where it starts. Confidence is a result.” “Confidence is built every time you keep a promise to yourself.” “Sometimes we’re asking God for the whole staircase when He’s asking us to take the next step.” “Everything we desire starts within.” Point to Ponder: Where am I withholding the very thing I keep asking to receive? Subscribe to The Confident Woman Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe Connect with Rachel Brooks: Website: iamrachelbrooks.com Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast
What if the version of you that got you here is the very version you've already outgrown? In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks speaks to the woman who keeps reaching for old versions of herself when life feels uncertain — not because those versions were freer or more aligned, but because they were familiar. She may still be showing up, performing, producing, and carrying everything. But something underneath has started to shift. Something no longer fits the way it used to. And the version of herself she keeps trying to get back to may be the very one she's been called to release. Rachel shares what it looks like when the survival version of yourself becomes your default, why staying in that version can feel like strength when it's actually fear, and how the grief of outgrowing who you had to be is a real and holy part of becoming who God is forming you to become. This episode is a faith-rooted, honest conversation about identity, surrender, and what it means to let go of the version that got you here so the woman you're becoming can finally lead. This episode is not about rejecting your past or forcing instant clarity. It is about telling the truth about what that old version was actually built from, honoring how far she carried you, and asking the harder question: what is it costing you to keep obeying her? What you'll hear: Why we reach for old versions of ourselves when life feels uncertain, and what's really driving that pattern How the survival version of you can become your default autoresponder — and why she is not the same thing as strength What it means when the version of you that knows how to carry everything starts to feel like it no longer fits Why letting go of an old version of yourself is a real form of grief, even when that version was built from pain Three anchors for the woman who is ready to stop letting fear drive and start giving the woman she's becoming permission to lead How Isaiah 43:18-19 speaks to releasing what's familiar and trusting what God is forming now The question to ask when the old version still works but the cost of obeying her keeps growing Scripture for the Soul: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing." — Isaiah 43:18-19 Key Quotes: "Survival is not the same as freedom." — Rachel Brooks "What if the version of me I keep trying to get back to is the very version I've outgrown?" — Rachel Brooks "The old version of you did her job. But she may not be the one who gets to lead what comes next." — Rachel Brooks "I have to let go to grow." — Rachel Brooks Your Next Step: If this episode met you where you are, the I Am Enough Identity Reset is where the honest work begins. Not to fix your whole life. Not to force clarity. Just to pause long enough to name what you've been believing, come back to what's actually true, and remember who you are and whose you are. Start here: iamrachelbrooks.com/enough Curious about supporting your body, energy, metabolism, and stress response as you rebuild, explore Beneve: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/beneve Connect with Rachel Brooks: The Confident Woman Weekly: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe I Am Enough Reset: iamrachelbrooks.com/reset LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks Website: iamrachelbrooks.com
In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel sits down with Annie Yatch for a raw conversation about over-functioning, burnout, reinvention, receiving, and what happens when the old way of carrying life no longer works. Annie is the CEO of Reinvention XO and creator of The Authority Shift. As a former counterterrorism analyst turned elite performance coach, Annie helps high-performing leaders stop carrying it all, release the internal patterns that cap their success, and lead from deeper alignment, authority, and truth. Together, Rachel and Annie talk about why so many high-capacity women feel exhausted even after trying all the strategies, routines, masterminds, and productivity hacks. This conversation goes deeper than surface-level burnout and into the patterns, beliefs, and identities that keep women carrying more than they were ever meant to hold. What You’ll Hear: Why burnout is often about more than working too hard How over-functioning can show up in leadership, relationships, business, and identity Why grief and life transitions can force a deeper reinvention What it means to stop building from pressure, performance, and survival How discernment helps you choose the right support, strategies, and next steps Scripture for the Soul "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind." — Ecclesiastes 1:14 Key Quotes "Most of us think we're burned out because we work too hard. But we're actually burned out because we're leading from our trauma, not from our true authority." — Annie Yatch "Where there is suffering, there is a lie in your subconscious holding you back from your next great thing." — Annie Yatch "You can feel the feels. But you have to get up." — Rachel Brooks Your Next Step: The I Am… Enough Identity Reset is free. Ten minutes. For the woman who feels lost, exhausted, or disconnected from who she is. Start here: iamrachelbrooks.com/enough If this conversation made you curious about supporting your body, energy, metabolism, and stress response as you rebuild, explore Beneve: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/beneve Connect with Annie Yatch Resources: reinventionxo.com/resources Instagram: instagram.com/reinventionxo.annie LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annie-yatch Facebook: facebook.com/annie.yatch Connect with Rachel Brooks: The Confident Woman Weekly: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks Website: iamrachelbrooks.com